The story of Isaac Starling: Dark Forests and Many Shadows
by tomahawk12345
Summary: The story is about a boy who becomes a sorcerer. It has the same rules and concepts as Skulduggery Pleasant but I have made it my own. The characters are completely my own. Please note: This used to be a crossover with Continuum but I have now decided against that. Isaac Starling is an ordinary boy living in the west of England. Nothing happens where he lives, well, didn't use to.
1. Prologue

**This is how I died**

"Do you understand?" the sergeant in front of us asked. My name was James. Notice I say was. Ever since they signed us up to this new task force we have been told to, I suppose, rename ourselves. They said something about our protection. Anyway, I was 18 and had joined the army last year. We had been trained to shoot and survive and all that and I had finally got in. Then after just a couple of months me, John, Dave and four others had relocated to the one we are in now. None of us were sure why, until tonight. The sergeant had told us to meet at the front of the old gates. They were built around, well, it doesn't really matter. They were old and fortified. We formed up in two lines. I was in the middle at the front. The sergeant walked up and spoke in his usual manner: Loud and annoying. No disrespect, sir. "Now." He said, scanning each of our faces. "No one has told you why you are here. Tonight, that isn't going to change." He took a note pad out of his top pocket. "We have received Intel that a man that has been seen on several accounts of brutal murder in Ireland." He paused" Using a bow and arrow." He spoke the words with despite like he hated the primitive uses of them. He continued" Has been seen not far from this position. We think he may now be operating in this town and has a home base. Your task is to locate this base. If you have no option then lethal force is allowed. But do not engage otherwise." He stalked to the front and looked at me "Do you understand?". I was suddenly aware of a low whistling sound and the steel head of an arrow punctured the sergeant's chest. He collapsed sideways and I was surrounded by noise and gun shots. The man to my right ran forward, raising his gun to fire, but only got halfway before falling to his knees. I was the last man standing and the dark figure walked up to me. I flinched back and he raised his hand. I felt something sharp embed into my chest and realised I was falling backwards. My head hit the floor. As I moved to get up, the pain in my chest increased and I noticed a stick, protruding from it. The blurred imaged came closer and into view. The man who had killed me looked right at me and said.

"This world is not ready for the storm that is coming." He stood up and pulled the arrow from me. Everything faded to black. That is how I died.


	2. Chapter 1: Issac

**Hello. This is my first story and i'd like to say that it is still work in progress. I have completed some of the other chapters already but if I'm going to post them I need feedback: 1, to know if it's worthwhile me actually writing these. 2, I would like feed back on what I need to do to improve. The chapters may look short but it is designed for an A5 book not A4. Thank you, Tomahawk.**

_**Chapter 1: Isaac**_

The small town of Heartmouth lay on the hills and cliffs of the west coast of England. It was a very ordinary countryside town with cottages and old post office buildings. The local highschool had been built in the 1980's and stood tall opposite the more modern primary school across the road. There were a few pubs and social places lying around and a small pier jutting out into the relatively calm sea. There were not many boats that passed. The ones that did were usually fishing ships that only cruised by on there way north-east to the market in Bristol. On the hills away from the beach was an estate of old and new manor houses. Just below that were the residential streets of Heartmouth, then further along the road was where the community park sat. Here Isaac would spend a lot of his time either wandering around or sitting on the benches reading. When it rained he would do pretty much the same inside. Isaac was fourteen. He had lived in the same house all his life and had decided that he was bored. When he had been a child he had liked to go round to his best friend's house and they would play in the park for hours. Isaac had never been particularly sporty. His friend had been almost his equal and most thought they had been brothers. That was until he had been in a car crash and had had to move elsewhere so his family could access the hospital more easily as there was only a small apothecary in Hearthmouth. Since then Isaac found himself wandering aimlessly and mostly staying alnoe. He avoided people at school and he eventually disappeared. No one acknowledged him or spoke to him. But he enjoyed his solitary environments. Isaac thought about all this while watching the ducks swimming in the pond, looking for morsels of bread. It had been raining lightly all day so not many people were around. The sun was behind an overcast sky and shadows were cast everywhere. Isaac looked around and when he was alone he stood up, shaking the rain drops from his coat, and threw the remaining bit of his ham sandwich to the ducks. Looking at his new digital watch he began to walk home. The numbers read 7:32. He turned a corner and walked into the back alley that he always took on the way back to his house. Rain dripped steadily from the roofs onto his hood. He stepped to avoid some puddles and turned a couple of corners. Finally he reached the gate and pushed it open. The rusted lock had fallen off weeks ago but no one could be bothered repairing it. He walked across the empty street and up to his front door. He opened it with his key, threw his coat on the rack and walked upstairs. His parents wouldn't be in for another hour. He took a book from his shelf and began to read.


	3. Chapter 2: Shadows Run Deep

**Hello. I decided to post the next chapter because there isn't much action so far and I thought that this would make readers want to continue. Thank you for reading, please review so I know what I have done well and what I need to do. Tomahawk.**

_**Chapter 2: Shadows Run Deep**_

_Hearthmouth Valley High School. Well he had been to worse. The building had been constructed in three parts. The first bit was the most recently built section that housed the reception area and the science laboratories. Just behind this was the oldest building. Within its walls were the English and maths classrooms. Finally, even further back was the PE block. Fields stretched out around it with markings for Rugby and Football. The main gate was at the end of a small road leading up to the reception. The boy walked up this road sticking to the shadows, as if they were protecting him from something. He wasn't worried about the gossipers or the 'cool kids' that would snigger and mock him behind his back. It was more the fact that he hadn't been to a school like this one before. All the others had been badly rated and most of the students there were misfits and criminals. Here they were good so it would be harder for him to blend in. Never the less, he didn't doubt himself. He had been in much trickier situations than this and had managed to evade them cleanly. He knew why he was here and that goal was all that mattered. And no exeptions…_

Isaac awoke to hear the front door click open. He got up off his bed to look out of his window. His parent's car was parked in its usual spot. He must have fallen asleep whilst reading. He put his book back in the bookshelf and walked down the stairs to see his mum and dad stumbling through the door holding bags of food shopping. Richard and Mollie Starling had been married for twenty years now and had lived in this house just as long. They were like the perfect couple. Where one didn't excel the other one did.

"Hello Isaac." His mum said. She dropped the big bag of shopping in front of her and Isaac peered in. "We thought that the biscuit tin had been empty for far too long." She explained as he pulled out two double sized packets of Oreos.

"You don't say…" Isaac said. His dad walked through the door.

"Hi Isaac. What have you been up to." Isaac found that his dad kept trying to act like he was his friend or something ever since he had drifted apart from society.

"Stuff" Isaac mumbled and walked back upstairs. He heard them talking about something before they carried on bringing the bags into the house. Isaac went back into his bedroom and switched on the TV. After flicking through the channels looking for something to watch but failing, he turned it off again. He glanced at his watch once more and saw that the time was now 9:30 and decided he had nothing better to do than go to bed. Morning came quickly and jolted him out of his sleep. He hurriedly got dressed for school and ran downstairs to get breakfast. Ten minutes later and he was out of the house and walking through the school gates.

Three o'clock finally came and he stepped out of the gates and turned the corner to head home. The sun had been out all day but had now dipped behind more rain clouds heading in from the coast. Rain as usual. He had overheard talk of a new boy joining his class. From what he had heard he had been kicked out of his last school in London and had come to live out in the country. Other than that he didn't know anything. The next day came around fast and Isaac walked into the reception. He passed the other classrooms that were full of other students from other years. He walked into the old building and through the door of his form room. As he went to his seat he noticed another boy that he didn't recognise. That must be the new guy he thought. Isaac examined him. He had black hair covering his right eye and most of that side of his face. His top button was undone and Isaac saw he was wearing a necklace. He had his head down so Isaac could make out much but it seemed he was about the same height as him. As the boy shifted his head he noticed a scar running down his neck. Two hours of science followed by history brought break and Isaac was once again sat on his own, eating his lunch. He finished his sandwich and stood up, heading towards the PE changing rooms for his next lesson. As he turned the corner he saw Billy Thomas and Dave Waters, the school bullies, shoving the new boy around. Billy grabbed his bag and kicked it into a puddle while Dave held him back. The boy did nothing in reaction. Isaac continued walking.

By the end of the day Isaac had gathered that the new boy's name was something strange but no one had told him what. He walked to the corner shop and bought himself a coke. As he stepped into the alley that he sometimes took on the way back he saw a group of men in hoodies he tried to turn back the way he came but it was too late as they had already seen him.

"Oi you." One of them shouted. Isaac stopped and turned. "C'mere a sec'" When he didn't move they started walking towards him.

"I don't want any trouble." He said.

"No, I know." Said the leader of the group. "Neither do we" He gestured at Isaac. "Your jacket, now." The man commanded. Not wanting to stir up anything violent he took his jacket of and threw it to the man. He took it and looked through the pockets bringing out his wallet.

"Isaac Starling." He read, "Oh, your that guy who always walks around on his own." He smirked and emptied the changed onto the wet floor. Isaac watched the coins bounce then lay still. The man continued searching the jacket. He pulled out his IPhone. "Well this is a pleasant surprise." He exclaimed then pocketed it. Finally, he pulled out Isaac's pocket knife. "Wow. Look who thinks he's a badass." The man reached into an inside pocket of his hoodie and pulled out a flick knife. "Mines bigger than yours." He laughed. The other men circled him. "See, as much as I would let to let this go." The man hesitated and looked at one of that other members of the group. "I can't. See, you have regognised me now and I know you so I cant have you running to the police now can I?" He Looked down. "So I'm gonna have to ask you to stand still." He pulled the latch on the side of his knife.

"Look I really don't want any trouble." Isaac said nervously as someone grabbed him from behind and held him there. "Can we just walk away and forget this ever happened?" Isaac could hear the urgency in his own voice.

"Sorry mate. It doesn't really work like that." Then he felt the fist smash into him. "Nothing personal." He heard the leader say. He crumpled to the floor as they crowded round him. He had been winded and could only just register the boot slam down on his face as tears erupted from his eyes. He was going to die. Everything was blurry and he saw the flash of metal as the man drew the knife. Then everything stopped. Suddenly, Isaac was aware of shouting. He rolled onto his stomach and saw a figure at the end of the alley. He couldn't make out his features. More shouting as three of the hoodies converged on the lone figure. He saw one of the men draw a knife, but he only managed to do that as he was struck by a hit to the neck. His head jerked sideways as he went down. The figure sprung into action redirecting punches from the other two men. One flew backwards as the shadowy character landed a brutal kick into his abdomen. He then ducked under the last man's swipe and jabbed him in the gut. Two more sprinted forward as the leader jumped over Isaac's stricken body. They were on the floor, seemingly unconscious, by the time the last man ran forward. The figure grabbed him and shoved him into the wall. "Sorry mate." The figure spoke. "Nothing personal." A ball of what looked like pure darkness formed in the figures hand and all of a sudden. The shadows in the alley bent to its will. With a scream, the leader went down. Isaac's eyelids suddenly felt heavy as everything turned to black.


End file.
